Shadows - Isolated Occurrences
by hpxii
Summary: A series of one- and two-shots depicting events in the Shadows - Galaxy at War universe, featuring Spectres, OCs and even a councillor. Updated sporadically based on random events like pigs flying. Rated T for violence and language.
1. Lair of the Shadow Broker, part 1

A/N: Okay, so having lost my darling laptop to lackofscreenitis, I'm taking the chance to to upload something that I have been planning on doing for a long while - a series of of thousand-odd word one- and two-shots describing events that I mention in Galaxy at

War, Citadel and End of Days. This is mfieldy of coping with the lack of progress I can make on Galaxy at War until I get back from my holiday in a week's time. So, to start: Lair of the Shadow Broker, part one...

* * *

Illium, August 2185. Nos Astra Trading Floor

Nyxeris was dead. Killed by a warp that the assistant hadn't seen coming. Liara looked down on the dead body that lay over the desk outside her firm's head office, her own office, and tried not to gag from the smell of flesh that was slowly disintigrating from the effects of her recent use of a warp field.

The first rumbles of thunder crashed far off in the distance, far away from the outskirts of Nos Astra. If Illium's weather was to be predictable tonight, the storm would hit the area around Liara's office in just over an hour's time. If it was not, and it ususually was not, then she could very well be ankle deep in water in far less time than that. Nos Astra had, like cities on every planet across the galaxy, its own unique sequence of seasons and its own unique weather patterns. It just so happened that Nos Astra was in its rainy season, and that perfectly matched the mood that Liara was in tonight. Were she in a human children's cartoon, a rain cloud would be following her above her head.

The young asari smiled - it was a perfect metaphor given the circumstances. Ideas that she had been concocting for days were turning from small embers in the back of her mind to raging infernos that could turn the balance of life on any world in the galaxy if she so choosed to do so, only for something to douse the flames. Often it was extremely well timed intelligence falling into a rival's hand or a tip off to an opponent. Liara now knew why all of that had been happening, and looking again at the body beneath her Liara dared to hope that things would improve from now on without that particular thorn in her side sabotaging her at every attempt.

"A credit for your thoughts, Doctor T'Soni?" The voice behind her startled Liara, who turned with biotics flaring. It would have mattered not - had the person who had talked wanted her dead, she would have been.

"Spectre Vasir. I suppose you have come here for my life, given your affiliaton with the Shadow Broker."

Tela Vasir laughed as the first flash of lightning lit up the trading floor, illuminating the face hidden underneath the hood of a flowing white and blue cloak. Underneath, Liara could make out the outline of the Spectre's distinctive blue armour, and the bulge on her hip of a heavy pistol. "Doctor, I would advise against joking with a Spectre. Illium or not, I can still kill you and not even be touched."

"Yes, the secret and almost unheard of agreement between Illium and the Citadel granting complete immunity for Spectres. It has only been discovered by half of the information brokers here, including one that I believe you have a personal interest in."

"The Shadow Broker?" Liara nodded, "How did you know? Spectre actvities are classified."

"I am an information broker, Spectre Vasir. It is my job to know." Vasir remained unconvinced by the explanation. "I also happen to be hunting the very man, woman or thing that is the Shadow Broker, like you are."

"You're hunting the Shadow Broker?"

"Yes, I too am hunting our 'mutual friend', but for far different reasons." Liara accentuated her words with quotation marks made in the air, gaining a slight wry smile from the Spectre.

"So where does the dead body come into play then?"

"She was an agent for the Shadow Broker, known as the Observer. From Nyxeris' data here, the Shadow Broker planned on having you kill me from afar while Nyxeris distracted me in my house. It wouldn't have succeeded - I have bullet proof glass on every window. He of course was banking on you joining him on Nasurn, though I underetand that business deal fell through."

"It most definitely did. However, I suppose then that, when I noticed my failure and your inevitable escape, I would have used my Spectre status to investigate your apartment while the policenwere there and track you from there. You would have gained an hour, maybe two at most." The Spectre paused, lowering her cowl as she walked up the steps towards Liara's office. "However, I have a proposal to make, Doctor. You and I both hunt the same man, a revelation I am very happy about. I had come here tomight to ask you a monumental favour, but now it seem that I do not need that favour as it benefits us both. I have information, that if properly decoded, could give us the Shadow Broker's location."

"I have an informant, Sekat, at Baria Frontiers' offoce in the Dracon Trade Centre. They specialise in stellar cartography, He can decode this for us."

"Excellent! I have a few mercenary contacts that I can call upon. We can raise a small army and-" Tela was interrupted by Liara's raised hand. "What?"

"We do not need them. I have another way of doing this."

"What is that?"

"Not what, but who." When Tela looked at her with a confused expression, head cocked sideways, it was once again Liara's turn to give a wry smile. "Commander Jane Shepard. Meet me at my apartment at nightfall. We can discuss our next move there. The Shadow Broker will no doubt be onto is by now. I will make efforts to get this secured, if not decoded by the time we meet."

"I look forward to it."

* * *

Shepard reread the message as she waited for her taxi to land outside Liara's apartment. Its contents were vague,but Shepard had rushed off anyway.

Shepard, your help has paid off. Meet me at my apartment, Number 213 in the Alloanah Block in the centre of Nos Astra. Bring a gun.

Liara

Shepard had brought Tali and the asari justicar, Samara, with her as a 'just in case', and all of them were armoured as if ready for a fight. Liara's apartment was on the top floor, with its own skycar pad nearby. Unfortunately, the pad was full of Illium Police Force skycars, and Shepard's small taxi was only just able to find enough space to land in.

When Shepard entered the apartment, she was immediately brought to a halt by an asari police officer. A quick wave of the Spectre ID and she was through, as was Samara. Tali had to wait by the car.

Liara's apartment was crawling with forensic officers, searching for clues as to something. Shepard immediately clocked the three bullet holes in the main window - someone was trying to assassinate Liara. That was why she was here.

"Commander Shepard!" Shepard turned to see an asari in blue armour descend the stairs from the upstairs bedroom. She exuded arrogance with every step. "Tela Vasir, Special Tactics and Recon. You're our most famous operative. Might get you to sign my chest plate."

"Honoured, Spectre Vasir. What's been going on here?"

"Your friend, Doctor T'Soni, has been the target of an assassination attempt. I arrived at the same time as the polife, and they've been investigating since."

"What have you found so far?"

"Well, the assassin tried to shoot your friend, but evidently didn't count on her installing bullet-proof glass. I gave the officers a gold star for finding the bullet holes. Oh, officer, your team is dismissed by the way."

"You can't do that!"

"I just did. Spectre authority." The police team hurriedly left, not wanting to face the wrath of the two Spectres lest they resist. "Now that you're here, however, I was hoping you could help find a clue to where she's gone. You used to know her, perhaps you could be of better use leading than I?"

Shepard nodded and began to search the apartment around her, all the while keeping a very close eye on Vasir as they moved through Liara's stuff. There was something about this second Spectre that didnt sit right with Shepard, and that was always a cause for concern.

* * *

A/N: Well, its not much but I hope you enjoy it. If there seem to be any places that are downright odd, let me know. I was typing on my tablet and the cursor kept on jumping around from place to place in a rando, fashion. Next up, a bomb, Hagalaz and biotics. Lots of biotics...


	2. Lair of the Shadow Broker, part 2

**A/N: **This one's a bit of a fragmented chapter and far from my best, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. Next up will likely be a few bits with Naylor and Tevos or the Nasurn mission that feeds into this. Happy reading

* * *

"CHRIST!" Shepard stood in the rain, dumbfounded as she watched the embers fall from the building above her. Around her, people screamed as they ran for cover, others running forward to drag wounded civilians away from the blast zone.

"They just took out three floors to get to her!" Tela's expression of shock was accentuated by the sound of falling glass smashing to the floor. The screams and moans of the wounded could be heard over all of it. On a first guess, Shepard reckoned that, just on the outside of the building, two dozen or so asari were wounded, and half a dozen others lay motionless in pools of their own purple blood, the liquid shimmering in the moonlight. Inside, she feared that things would be far worse.

"Bastards."

"Keelah, Shepard, we need to make sure Liara is okay!"

"I know. Tali, do what you can to help these people. Samara, Spectre Vasir and I will find Liara."

"Stay safe, Shepard," Tali rested her helmet up against Shepard's, the only gesture of intimacy that the pair could manage in the situation. "Now go. Liara needs your help!"

Shepard drew her shotgun and Samara her assault rifle as they walked forwards into the entrance hall of the trading centre. Tela moved to follow them, unshipping her Vindicator, but soon turned around as she noticed something in amongst the smoke, heading back to the skycar landing pad while shouting back to her fellow Spectre and the Justicar who were standing at the door.

"I'll take my skycar up to the top floor, head down and try and see whether I can find Doctor T'Soni. If she's survived that is."

"We'll go in the main entrance, meet you in the Baria Frontiers office."

As the door opened, Shepard quickly began guiding them out of the building. Samara walked forward into the smoke-filled reception of the building, disappearing into the inky greyness until she was little more than a silhouette. Shepard quickly followed as the last of the wounded civilians exited the area.

"Baria Frontiers is on the third office, Commander. I'm currently on the fifth."

"Keep looking for Liara. We're moving up into the offices now." Shepard began walking towards the elevator, but as she neared the elevator lobby she saw the red hologram and the sparks that gave her a clear message. "Damn, the elevator's out."

"Shepard, I sense trouble in your voice. You do not trust Spectre Vasir?"

"She suddenly turns up out of the blue at Liara's apartment after there's been an assassination attempt on one of my friends and now there's an explosion at the place that we're supposed to find said friend after she's made a run for it from the assassin. I'm incredibly concerned."

"I would agree, Commander. I share similar suspicions."

* * *

Tela ran down the stairs, tossing one of the white-armoured mercenaries in the Shadow Broker's employ out of her way as she bolted for the third floor. Her biotics were the only think keeping her from being riddled by shots, her armour's kinetic barriers having been taken out moments earlier. Two more mercenaries stepped out in her path, but a shockwave sent them smashing down the stairs to their deaths.

"Shepard better get here soon. There are dozens of these bastards." Tela mused out loud to herself as she exited the stairwell on the third floor, and immediately was taken in by the sheer devastation that could be seen around the place. The entire area was a wasteland, burnt and warped by the force of the explosion. But the lack of cover gave her enough time to see another mercenary duck around a corner, catching a glimpse of blue skin as the figure moved. "Asari."

Tela primed her biotics, flashing forward around the corner and throwing the asari back with a shockwave before the mercenary was able to react. As the asari crashed into a filing cabinet, Tela saw her adversary fully, realising that the face belonged to one of the three infamous Sederis sisters. Less well known than her older sibling Jona, and cast out of the Eclipse unlike her younger sister Tashya, Ise Sederis was the most crazy of the three, but in combat was one of the most striking symbols of how well asari commandos were trained and how well they fought.

Ise pulled herself over the filing cabinet, avoiding Tela's follow-up Warp before pirouetting around to move behind a wall, unleashing her own warp field towards the Spectre. Tela responded with the same grace, sliding effortlessly into the cover of an overturned desk and quickly reassessed her plans. Her adversary had recovered faster than she had hoped, and now it was something close to a fair fight. Except Tela wasn't one for a fair fight.

Quickly moving from cover to cover, the Spectre dropped her Vindicator and sent warp after warp towards the mercenary, dropping her biotic barriers to fuel her strikes. None hit, but the barrage kept Ise off guard for long enough to allow Tela a chance to change direction and head straight at the asari without a response. A quick biotic charge later and Tela had Ise by her throat. A second later and the mercenary's throat was crushed, her lifeless body tossed against a wall.

With the office free of mercenaries for the time being, Tela gave herself a moment to breathe, keeping an eye on all the entrances that the mercenaries could arrive by while retrieving her assault rifle. A flash of off-white and the bang of an assault rifle discharging caught the Spectre's eye and Tela followed the glimpse up, running into an office to suddenly see a mercenary stand over the dead body of a salarian. Following the bark of her assault rifle and the crash of the mercenary falling dead to the floor, a flash of black armour heralded the sudden arrival of Shepard in the same room.

"Damn. A few seconds earlier and I'd have had him."

"I suppose."

"Given the devastation, I doubt that Doctor T'Soni could have survived. Did you find her in your search?"

"If by that you mean did I find her body, then no." Shepard and Samara drew their weapons and pointed towards the asari Spectre, both with the same resolve as the other. "The game's up, Vasir. You're one of the Shadow Broker's agents. What did you do with Liara and the data?"

"You mean this data?" Liara suddenly came around the same corner that Shepard had, holding a data disc in her hand. "Shepard, you can trust Spectre Vasir. She's an ally in this chase."

"Liara, are you certain. Becuase this doesn't stack well for her."

"What do you mean?"

"Vasir arrives at your apartment following an assassination attempt and your disappearance. She uses me to get your location and calls in a bomb to kill you and then the mercenaries to distract me while she makes sure that you are truly dead. I don't buy a word of this supposed help she's giving you."

"Shepard, Spectre Vasir is hunting the Shadow Broker, just like I am. She came to me at the end of trading today with data that can find his location for us. You have to believe me."

"Fine. But if we die and our cause of death is listed as "Death by asari Spectre, don't blame me for not being aware."

* * *

The Shadow Broker was dead. Liara stood out of the way of the pool of plasma that had rained down on the yagh's form and incinerated him to the bone. Tela had been true to the word that she had given Shepard on the Normandy after they had left Illium - she was on the human Spectre's side until the end of the Shadow Broker.

But none of them had forseen how the death of the galaxy's biggest information broker would end.

"Doctor."

"Spectre Vasir. Your help was invaluable. I have a friend back thanks to you."

"I could say the same. I have killed the man that tried to order the killing of innocent people because of my refusal to help him."

"So what then do you think of what happened afterwards then?"

"You are doing what you have to do. The Reapers can be stopped, but we need people to do that. You can do that for us, and you have my support."

"You do not hold a grudge against me becoming the man you wanted to kill?"

"You are a far better person than he is, and I trust you will do the right thing with the power." Tela put an arm around Liara's shoulder, and the maiden shifted slightly away from the touch, only for the Spectre to lean in closer again. "I will keep your secret a secret. The Council will not know, nobody apart from those here will know."

"And you can guarantee that?"

"Yes. I am not saying that I will work for the Shadow Broker like your predecessor wanted me to, but I will support you in this. Good luck, Liara. Give the Reapers something to think about then."

* * *

_Report Number 21167545:  
__Report of Spectre Vasir to Councillor Tevos, July 4th, 2185 (human standard calendar)__  
_

_Councillor Tevos,_

_Operations against the Shadow Broker have been successful, although the man himself remains out of reach. Key control centres for his network have been destroyed and his operations severely damaged. Conclusion of measures against the network is imminent._

_If at all possible, I will clear time to attend the funeral for the ten dead commandos that died in your service. After that, I will be available for further assignments._

_Spectre Tela Vasir._


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **A bit of a double header, what with a chapter for Galaxy at War and now this going out. I had planned on uploading this tomorrow, but apparently the house I'm going to be moving in to doesn't yet have its internet enabled. Plus my cat didn't want me to move out, making a fort out of my suitcases. I count that as funny as pigs flying, so another isolated chapter!

* * *

**Citadel Space Station, 2183**

"Lieutenant, come on in." Second Lieutenant Naylor stepped gingerly over the portal into the small office, snapping a salute at the officer seated behind the desk. "No, no, I don't stand on formality. Please have a seat."

"Thank you, sir."

"None of that nonsense, Naylor. I've got some good news for you." Behind his desk, Captain David Anderson was relieved that he had finally been able to find places for the men and women of the stricken SSV Waterloo. The ship's small company, already reduced as her engineeing team had been taken away for the purpose of stripping the frigate down to its component parts, was doing little more than sitting around at an Alliance station on the Wards, trying to occupy themselves and not waste the backpay that the Alliance was sending their way.

Most of the crew members were being sent to ships around the galaxy, their skills and combat experience proving useful for the fleets that hadn't seen action in the offensive to clear the Armstrong Nebula. The Fourth Fleet, now with most of its vessels returning to their bases in the Sol system, was rapidly cycling out senior crew members as advisors to the First and Fifth fleets, which were soon to be joining the combined fleets of the three Council races in a blockade of any approach to the Citadel.

"This whole debacle with Saren Arterius has the Alliance spooked somewhat. That's why the men and women of the Waterloo are being sent out across the galaxy. We need people with combat experience."

"Even if our experience was being shot at and crippled by the geth the second we arrived in combat?"

"Yep. Even that."

"Okay. So you've said everyone else's postings. What about mine?"

"Ah. Sorry, a bit forgetful today." Anderson sorted through the datapads on his desk, frustrated at his forgetfulness and the fact that Udina had refused to have any of the Alliance staff in the embassy assist him on the matter. Finding the relevant datapad, he passed it over to the Second Lieutenant, who received it an immediately started digesting the contents. "Ah, take a look at this."

Anderson didn't miss the surprised expression that was written across Naylor's face after he finished reading. "I'm being assigned to the embassy? Here, on the Citadel?"

"Yes. Admiral Sturgeon wanted us to reassign you back to the Fourth Fleet on the SSV Fuji. Admiral Hackett wanted you on the Orizaba, Admiral Lindholm wanted you on the Everest. Apparently your experiences on Antimony have made some waves."

"Head hunted at 21. What next, ICT?"

"I don't know about that, Lieutenant." Anderson moved the datapads over to one side on the desk, so his view of the Lieutenant was unobstructed. He leant down, resting his elbows on the table and adopting his best 'serious' face. "Listen, I know the Citadel is a new experience for you, and working at the embassy does have its perks, but the Alliance will not send a car to pick you up if you find yourself in an asari's bed after a rather messy one night stand at one of the clubs in the wards. Got it?"

Naylor laughed, Anderson's mouth curling up into a big smile. "Got it." Unfortunately, Anderson immediately went back into his serious mode.

"On all seriousness, though, your job does require a lot of self control. We're giving you an incredibly important job, one that we didn't think we'd need until the Alliance launched the attack into the Armstrong Nebula." The Captain leant back in his chair, picking up a pen and twirling it in his fingers. "The Alliance was almost set up. A few hours later and the geth would have fortified the mass relay and turned the exit into a death trap. Someone knew we were going into the Armstrong Nebula and sent word to the geth. We think it was via Saren."

"So, what, do you want me to find this mole?"

"No."

"Sir?"

"Your role is far more simple. We reckon the geth found out via a tap into our communications here on the Citadel. That is, communications between our embassy and other embassies and the Council. We currently have a team working with elements from the Armali Police Force's cyber division to track whoever revealed the information, but we still need to continue sending information. That's where you come in.

"We're going to launch an operation to confuse whoever is tapping our transmissions by sending false data as a part of setting _our own trap_ with the Second and Fourth Fleets. However, as we need to continue sending information, your job is simple - you're going to be a runner."

"A runner? I thought we had left those behind in the 20th Century."

"Well, times are changing and we need our information to be secure when we send it. You have a pass to carry full firearms and armour on the Citadel and an access pass to secured areas in the Council Chambers."

"The Council Chambers?"

"Yes, Lieutenant. Your main job will be transporting information between the human embassy here and the office of Councillor Tevos in the Council Chambers."

* * *

Naylor was understandably nervous as he walked up the steps to where the three offices of the three Councillors were located. C-Sec had accepted the pass he was carrying, and the young officer was quickly shown the route up to the office where Councillor Tevos could be found. Clutching tightly the encrypted orders on the datapad he was carrying in his hand, and with the decryption key secreted in a third dogtag around his neck, Naylor pressed the intercom key to request access to the Councillor's office. Strangely, without being queried as to his purpose, Naylor was waved straight through.

Inside, the office was far different from anything in the human embassy. The entrance hall to the office led to an open plan chamber, a small security station to one side and a secretaries' desk opposite, but there was no distinctive divide between the Councillor's office and the rest of the area. It reminded Naylor of many of the administration buildings he had been forced to visit on Antimony, where he had been informed that the asari, through their vastly more communal style of living, believed that the secretary and anyone protecting the important dignitary, whoever she was, needed to be on immediate hand in case anything was needed. The Councillor's office was no different. Except from where he was standing, Naylor couldn't see the Councillor herself.

"One day, I feel like I will kill Aria T'Loak. Correct that, have Aria T'Loak killed. This is another one of those times that she is insufferable at the worst possible moment!" He could certainly hear her, however.

"Councillor, could it be that the quote was taken out of context? Especially, now of all times, Aria would know that to anger the Council would be a grave mistake."

"It wasn't, Taysi. Did Astia ever show you the document?"

"Your secretary did not, Councillor. She rushed it immediately to your desk."

"It still doesn't make sense. Why would Aria, to summarise, want my purple bottom to join hers in some back alley of an Omegan slum?"

"She has been trying the same tactic with you and your predecessor, Councillor. She has not been successful in intimidating us on any of those occasions."

"Still, I don't want to hear any more about this. Astia, I want you to collate summaries of any incoming traffic relating to our _favourite_ Terminus Warlord and censor documents relating to this latest quip from my daily reports."

"It will be done, Councillor." The conversation ended as an asari appeared from out of Naylor's view, rising from the group of sofas that lined one wall of the Councillor's office. Evidently the Councillor's personal secretary, given the datapads she was holding against her chest, she noticed the Lieutenant's arrival and pointed towards the secretary's desk. "Ah, Lieutenant Naylor is it?"

"I'm expected?"

"Yes. The Councillor has been informed of your job as a... runner? Yes, a runner." Astia looked to one side to see the Councillor and her two bodyguards making their way towards her desk. "Councillor? Lieutenant Naylor has arrived with the Alliance documents."

"Ah, I will be a moment." The Councillor made her way towards Astia's desk, catching Naylor's eye as she moved within his vision. Had Naylor been concentrating, he would have noticed the poise and elegance she carried. Instead, his eyes were focussed on her face, her blue-purple skin contrasting heavily with the white tattoos dotted across her face. Had he cared, Naylor would have been tempted to call her beautiful. He didn't. "Ah, Lieutenant. Your name is familiar, though I can't place it."

"I was awarded the Lusian Cross for actions undertaken on Antimony, Councillor."

"Ah, the mysterious human that Captain Vosen was supposedly making up. I remember. You were knocked out injured before the end of the fighting, yes?" Naylor nodded. "Yes, now I remember. Your actions helped a great many asari and human civilians weather the onslaught. You have my thanks." Sheepishly, Naylor nodded again in thanks. He hadn't been expecting the Councillor, a mysterious and intriguing person to many of those who served in the human embassy, to be this informal around a comparative stranger. He definitely hadn't been expecting to find it as un-embarrassing as it had actually been. "Now, to business. You have a series of encrypted documents, yes?"

"Aye." Naylor handed them to Astia, who plugged the datapad into a special port on her computer terminal. Fishing around his neck for his dogtags, Naylor brought out the new addition to the chain, plugging it into the terminal and inputting the command sequence he had been given by the Alliance techs responsible for the encryption. "Your pass code?" Tevos entered in her own assigned command sequence, unlocking the datapad for normal reading.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Astia, what is the time?"

"About five minutes until your next appointment, Councillor."

"Right. Lieutenant, I suspect that the other Councillors will have some documents for you to return to your embassy. You can wait here if you wish, but I'd be honoured to talk with a friend of the asari people if you would be so kind as to accompany me."

Naylor was a bit confused by the Councillor's request, as were her two commando bodyguards, but he nodded in response, and followed the Councillor out of her office and towards the meeting room being used by the Council.

"So what brought you to the Citadel, Lieutenant?"

"My ship was destroyed, Councillor." Trying to stop the almost nervous stammer that he had developed in the previous few seconds since the Councillor's request, Naylor continued. "We were on operations in the Armstrong Nebula when the geth attacked the Fourth Fleet after we exited a mass relay. The SSV Waterloo, which I served on, was crippled in the fighting and was attacked by a geth raider and seriously damaged. We limped our way back to the Citadel where the Waterloo is being dismantled for spare parts."

"A sad end to a ship. Tell me, this job as a runner - where did it come from?"

"It used to be a role that certain soldiers would undertake about two and a half centuries ago, Councillor. A runner would be tasked with fetching orders from his superior and taking them to a certain unit currently involved in the front line, and then returning with any updates or requests from the unit he had delivered orders to."

"An inefficient mechanism, Lieutenant. Radio or omni-tool communication is far faster and doesn't risk the life of this runner."

"You are forgetting, Taysi, that the humans hadn't developed radios or omni-tools back then. Is that correct?" Naylor nodded. "It surprises me just how quickly humanity has grown and expanded. I am hopeful to see what your race will do in the future, Lieutenant." The journey came to an abrupt end when Tevos made her way through a highly secured door into a high security briefing room above the Council Chambers. Naylor, Taysi and her comrade, another huntress named Mallene, were asked by the Councillor outside the room for the duration of their quick briefing, at which point she would supply Naylor with the documents she wanted him to return.

The huntress named Mallene sat down beside Naylor on a bench outside the briefing room, her relaxed posture belying the fact that she was constantly measuring up anything in the area for threats. "Don't worry, human. Naylor, was it? Tevos gets to know the people she's in charge of. She's an honest person."

"I suppose so."

"If I'm honest, she seems slightly different around you. Dunno what it is, but she looks at you funnily. And if it does come to what I think it will, remember to tell me what sex with a Councillor is like, will you?"

"Mallene!"

"Yeah, Captain?"

"Nobody is fucking anybody! And no-one will tell you about it!"


End file.
